The exhibition kicks off at the Memorial of the CPC’s First National Congress in downtown Shanghai on September 11, 2023. Photo: Courtesy of the Memorial of the CPC’s First National Congress

For every new member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), taking the Party admission oath is an essential and meaningful ceremony that marks the process of formally joining the CPC. An exhibition that highlights the oath-taking ceremony kicked off on Monday at the Memorial of the CPC's First National Congress in Shanghai.

The exhibition, which will open to the public for free from Tuesday, displays 270 historical items that show visitors the various versions of oaths for joining the CPC over the past century.

One of the exhibits is a photocopy of a document released by the Party's Shanghai branch in 1925, which introduced the ceremony process for a new member joining the Party. According to the document, the oath for new CPC members in Shanghai at that time had 36 characters, which contained contents like "maintain strict secrecy," and "carry out revolution."

The exhibition also showcases the current version of the admission oath that was adopted during the CPC's 12th National Congress in 1982, which says: "It is my will to join the Communist Party of China, uphold the Party's program, observe the provisions of the Party Constitution, fulfill a Party member's duties, carry out the Party's decisions, strictly observe Party discipline, guard Party secrets, be loyal to the Party, work hard, fight for communism throughout my life, be ready at all times to sacrifice my all for the Party and the people, and never betray the Party."

In October 2017, led by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee again took an admission oath in front of the Party flag when they visited the Memorial of the First CPC National Congress.

From then on, numerous Party members from all over China followed in the general secretary's footsteps to the memorial to take the Party admission oath. "There have been more than 800,000 new and veteran Party members taking the oath here," the memorial's director Xue Feng told the Global Times on Monday.

The oath-taking ceremony helps Party members to further strengthen their political conviction, and gives them power to better face challenges in work and life, said Xue.

"Therefore, through this exhibition, we hope our visitors can understand the original aspiration of the Party members, as well as the spiritual power contained in the oath," he noted.

The exhibition also shows items related to outstanding representatives of Party members of different ages, from the pioneers in China's communist movement at the beginning of the 20th century and the revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), to the role models in various industries who devote themselves to Chinese modernization.

"All their lives, they fulfilled the Party admission oath," said the exhibition's curator Qu Yutong.

At the exhibition hall, Qu shared with the Global Times the innovative highlights in the design of the exhibition. "We have an interactive screen," she noted. "By typing in their names and the dates of joining the CPC, visitors can see on the screen how many days they have been a Party member."

Visitors to the exhibition can also watch a micro film produced by the memorial, which tells touching stories of three ordinary party members - a veteran, a volunteer teacher and a grassroots Party cadre - participating in the oath-taking ceremony.